FORAN LEGION ARE BIG BUTCHER FANS; PREMIER LEAGUE.

Byline: EWAN SMITH reports

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RICHIE FORAN admits former Rangers and England star Terry Butcher was already a legend in the eyes of the Caley players when he took charge last month.

But after steering the club to within a point of relegation rivals Falkirk Foran believes Butcher now has the chance to make himself a lifelong hero with the Inverness fans.

Butcher's men looked anything but a side in fear of the drop yesterday as they swept aside Hibs thanks to goals from Foran and David Proctor.

And with a home clash to come against Butcher's old side Motherwell next week Thistle could climb off the bottom and move the dream of SPL survival a step closer to reality.

Foran - who worked with Butcher at Motherwell before moving to Southend - said: "When Terry got the job I was delighted and even more so when he made me his first signing two days later.

"I didn't even have to think about moving. I knew him and liked him.

"Some of the boys were a bit in awe of himat first as he's an England legend but as soon as he cracked a few jokes they realised he's on their level.

"It's not coincidence that we're playing well under him and getting results.

"He takes the pressure right off the players and I believe I will be playing for him in the SPL next season.

"There's a long way to go and we have achieved nothing yet. The real pressure starts here as people will expect us to win now but it's in our own hands to stay up."

Caley charged out of the starting blocks and could have been in front inside three minutes when Proctor's cross was met by Dougie Imrie but the striker's header from 10 yards flashed wide.

At the other end Hibs were always going to be a threat with their three-pronged attack of Steven Fletcher, Derek Riordan and Jonatan Johansson.

Two of them combined in seven minutes when Johansson met Fletcher's cross but the Finn's header hit the side-netting.

JJ was left to rue that miss in 15 minutes when Eric Odhiambo played a clever first-time past into Proctor and the midfielder turned to coolly beat Grzegorz Szamotulski from 10 yards.

Johansson had an even better chance to draw Hibs level.

This time Ross Chisholm sent him clear of the defence with the striker drilling low past the advancing Ryan Esson before seeing the ball bounce the wrong side of the post.

Inverness were keen to add to their lead before the break and Imrie wasn't far away with a 25-yard strike in 40 minutes.

Foran then tried his luck with a looping long-range shot that slipped over Szamotulski's bar.

Hibs looked desperate for the half-time whistle but they had two more scares before ref Alan Muir put them out their misery.

First Caley should have had a penalty when Proctor collapsed under the challenge of Hibs skipper Rob Jones but the ref waved away the appeals.

Foran had a final chance to add to Caley's lead but his clever chip-shot shaved the bar.

Hibs brought on Joe Keenan for the ineffective Chisholm at the break but his arrival did little to stem the flow of play.

If anything Hibs got worse and far too many of their top players were posted missing.

The same could not be said for Inverness who sealed the win in 63 minutes through Foran.

Jones did well to block Imrie's initial close-range effort but the unmarked Foran pounced on the rebound to fire home and send Caley fans home happy.

REF WATCH

ALAN MUIR had one big call to make when Hibs skipper Rob Jones collided with Inverness striker David Proctor in the box but the ref got it horribly wrong and waved play on instead of pointing to the spot. Blotted his copybook in an otherwise decent display. RATING: 5/10

CAPTION(S):

Highland ping: David Proctor escapes the attentions of Lewis Stevenson before cracking in the opener for Caley Thistle